The Bannana

1. What is the Topic (bannanas) - define
2. What is the background history of the Topic
3. Why is the topic relevant to the reader
4. List & discuss 3 principals form your chapter concept map (elaborate on the strengths and weakness of each)
   
5. What events/people are influencing/changing the topic
6. How is the Topic influencing/affecting other areas/disciplines
7. Give a "real-world" example of the topic
8. Conclusion: (1) Future of the topic, (2) Personal reflection/opinion on the topic
9. Summarize: recap/expand each of the above outline, but in different words

1- A banana is a fruit that comes from a plant. It is green and turns yellow when ripe. It is commonly grown in a tropical environment. Bananas are high in potassium.

2-The banana is mentioned for the first time in history in buddhist texts 600 years BC. Alexander the Great discovers the taste of the banana in the Indian valleys in 327 BC . The existence of an organized banana plantation could be found in China back in the year 200 AD. In 650 AD, Islamic conquerors brought the banana back to Palestine. The Arabic merchants finally spread the bananas all over Africa.Only in 1502 the Portuguese start the first banana plantation in the Caribbean and in central America. http://www.vandamme.be/history.html

3- Bananas are a very important commodity for developing countries, with a clear dual nature which complicates the analysis. They are at the same time a major staple commodity, together with rice, wheat and maize, and a fundamental export commodity. Around one fifth of globally produced bananas are exported from the developing countries to the developed countries, an example of unidirectional South-North trade. The duality is also present in production systems, where large-scale banana plantations, mainly oriented to export markets, coexist along with smallholder banana farmers. http://www.scholar.com/userHomepage.dobbb?op=tagDetail&tagPrefix=tag&tagVal=VARIETY&tagViewMode=all

4a - The true origin of Bananas, world's most popular fruit, is found in the region of Malaysia. By way of curious visitors, bananas traveled from there to India where they are mentioned in the Buddhist Pali writings dating back to the 6th century BCE. In his campaign in India in 327 BCE, Alexander the Great relished his first taste of the banana, an usual fruit he saw growing on tall trees. He is even credited with bringing the banana from India to the Western world. According to Chinese historian Yang Fu, China was tending plantations of bananas in 200 CE. These bananas grew only in the southern region of China and were considered exotic, rare fruits that never became popular with the Chinese masses until the 20th century. http://www.banana.com/

4b - Receipes - A popular dish in the Caribbean features banana fritters flavored with rum, a dish that consists of chunks of bananas dipped in flour, then into a rich batter. They are deep-fried in hot oil until golden and then sprinkled with powdered sugar. http://www.banana.com/recipes.html

4c- Medicine - Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect food for helping to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke. http://www.banana.com/medicinal.html

5- They are both sterile and parthenocarpic so the fruit develops without seed. There are major challenges to banana production from virulent diseases, abiotic stresses and new demands for sustainability, quality, transport and yield. Within the genepool of cultivars and wild species there are genetic resistances to many stresses. Genomic approaches are now rapidly advancing in Musa and have the prospect of helping enable banana to maintain and increase its importance as a staple food and cash crop through integration of genetical, evolutionary and structural data, allowing targeted breeding, transformation and efficient use of Musa biodiversity in the future. http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/mcm191v1

6- Growers adopted a frenzied strategy of shifting crops to unused land, maintaining the supply of bananas to the public but at great financial and environmental expense-the tactic destroyed millions of acres of rainforest. By 1960, the major importers were nearly bankrupt, and the future of the fruit was in jeopardy. (Some of the shortages during that time entered the fabric of popular culture; the 1923 musical hit "Yes! We Have No Bananas" is said to have been written after songwriters Frank Silver and Irving Cohn were denied in an attempt to purchase their favorite fruit by a syntactically colorful, out-of-stock neighborhood grocer.) U.S. banana executives were hesitant to recognize the crisis facing the Gros Michel, according to John Soluri, a history professor at Carnegie Mellon University and author of Banana Cultures, an upcoming book on the fruit. "Many of them waited until the last minute." http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2008-06/can-fruit-be-saved

7- Chiquita produces and distributes bananas and other fresh fruits and vegetables under the premium Chiquita brand. The company emerged from a pre-arranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002, giving bondholders a 95.5% stake for a $700 million reduction in the company's debt. Chiquita got out of the canned vegetable business when it sold its processed foods unit to Seneca Foods in 2003. Wachovia Corporation owns about 10% of Chiquita. http://www.knowmore.org/wiki/index.php?title=Chiquita_Brands_International%2C_Inc.

8- The banana constitutes an almost complete diet if taken with milk. In ancient India this golden fruit was regarded as the nature’s secret of perpetual youth. Research seems to have thrown up evidence that regular intake of this fruit keeps blood pressure at bay, while it is also recommended in treatment of kidney disorders, tuberculosis, and urinary disorders. It is also said to prevent heart attacks and diabetes. http://www.indiacurrents.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=4768660b1120b444829793f6d2182471

9- The banna is a humble fruit that is a major staple for many people around the globe. The fruit has its history from southeast asia and is now a major soures of revenue for many poor economies around the world. The possinle extinction of the fruit can lead to worlwide shortage which will affect many poor countries revene stream. The banana offers many medical remedies such as hangovers, digestion isuues and is known for its laxative effects. It offers many oppertunits for cooking receipes and can be baked, broilke, fried, lioquifiesd and eatea raw in salads. Scientists are working fraticall aroundthe globe to ensure that diseasesa and pests do not erradicate tyhis most valuable fruit. Farmers around the globa are beginning to realize that in order to m aitain the health of this fruit,. it is wise for thenm to practice planting between banan growing season othrre fruits to maintain the soli health. Chiquita bannans are the dominant producer of this fruit and they have very large plantauions aroundt the globe. In conclusion, I hope the banana is here to stay!.